Less

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

—John 15:1–2

One of my key words for this season is less—less everything. Our house is feeling a little cramped, so I’m on a “get rid of it” spree. I’m simplifying, clarifying my contributions to various teams and projects. I’m inching out of all sorts of things, redrawing the lines, making things smaller. And it feels so much better to live in an uncluttered mind. Less, less, less.

There’s a season for more—frankly, most of my seasons are seasons of more. More meals, more music, more laughter, more playing, more people. More books, more flip-flops, more champagne. More, more, more.

But being a grown-up is stretching yourself into new ways of living, bending into new postures, training new muscle memory instead of slipping into the same old story.

My nature is more, but this season is less. Paring down to barer bones, making space, scraping away. We love big stories, ones that involve passports, mountains, and photo-ops. But sometimes being courageous means less, quieter, stiller, smaller.

Clearing away all the excess makes space for what needs to come to life.